Two cops in Texas are being widely praised for spontaneously helping a disabled Navy veteran with his gardening.
Longview Police Department Officers Ron Duncan and Michael Preston were on patrol in the city earlier this month when they spotted 57-year-old Robert Upshaw, who uses a motorized wheelchair, struggling to mow his lawn.
“Next thing I know two police officers [are] beside me, one of them confiscates my lawnmower and starts cutting the grass for me,” Upshaw told CBS News.
A neighbor snapped the law enforcers performing their selfless good deed and sent the photographs to the pair’s superiors, who shared them to Facebook on Thursday:
In a lengthy post that is now going viral, the department’s public information officer, Sgt. Shane McCarter, acknowledged that “high speed pursuits, foot chases, drug arrests and arrests of someone who needs to be taken off the streets” are when officers often gain “that feeling of exhilaration” they likely signed up for.
But there are also times, he said, when “acts of kindness expose a brighter shine,” such as when strangers are in need of simpler things like “a smile” or “a window repaired.”
“This act is not only a flicker of light in our community but a spark that is intended to reunite communities,” McCarter added.
Upshaw, who lost both legs because of medical conditions after he’d finished serving in the Navy, told the Longview News-Journal he was initially surprised when the officers approached his property.
“I was shocked ― that hadn’t happened before,” he said. “But I got to talk with them for a while. ... They seem like real good people.”
Dozens of Facebook commenters appear to agree:
Before You Go
